Are you tired of seeing empty church aisles? If you are part of a religious organization, you must be a passionate person trying to help your community, but often attendance is lower than what you would like to see. The traditional way of communicating with your flock has been by email, but we all know that emails don’t get you the results you want. People get too many emails these days and often they don’t open what you send, meaning you spent a lot of your time on something that often frustratingly doesn't work.

That’s why religious organizations are turning to SMS texting to stay in touch with their congregation. This church communication software has a 98% read rate, meaning that you will be able to reach your flock and keep them in the loop.

Keep your Congregation Engaged

SMS texting allows you to send messages to your entire congregation -- and they will read it in seconds! Even better, if you choose a provider with landline texting capability, you can then use the phone number your organization already uses to become a digital inbox, allowing you to message back and forth with your congregation.

With mobile keywords, you can collect opt-in mobile numbers automatically so your members can sign themselves up to receive updates. This allows you to automatically grow your distribution lists without having to manually enter information of your congregants that want to receive updates.

You can promote your text keywords through multiple channels like Facebook, Twitter, flyers, media advertisement, emails, and at events.

Want to have a interactive church event? You can engage your congregation with a text-to-screen system and give your members a chance to participate. Members can request verses they would like to discuss or you can even use it for your youth ministry and have kids text in questions during Sunday school.

Get Instant Feedback

Because text messages are read so quickly, it allows you to engage with your congregation instantly. You can do anything from sending out a quick poll to see what your next sermon should be, or you can ask your congregation what they are bringing for the next potluck.

Get More Donations

Churches need donations to keep their great community programs running. Texting is a great way to get donations because unlike emails they actually get opened. If you send your congregants a text with a link to your church's donation page they are far more likely to click it and complete a donation.

The reason text-to-donate campaigns work is because it is the easiest way for a person on the go to setup a donation: they just text in a word and follow the link they get sent back. This is effective at growing your donation base, as donors want a simple process where they can make a one time donation to your organization and move on.

Deliver Reminders and Notices

Text reminders are an amazing way to increase your attendance. You can send your congregation personalized reminders to come to service on Sunday, helping you drive up attendance.

Busy churches are great, but it can be hard for members to keep up with various ministry and outreach programs. A text system can remind members of upcoming group meetings quickly, and church members can easily opt-out of alerts they aren't interested in. These could include regular info about upcoming activities or meetings, or alerts if a time or location for a regular event has been changed.

It can also let people know about other special gatherings, such as Vacation Bible Schools. Parents can send the church a text to confirm that their kids will attend, which will help organizers know how many students to expect.

Are you a church or place of worship looking to replace your ineffective email systems with texting? Click here to find out how!